NFL Is Personally Offended By KFC's "Ambush Marketing"

Oh no! By offering $260,000 to charity if a New York Giants or New England Patriots player does “the chicken dance” in the end zone during SuperBowl XLII, KFC has offended the delicate sensibilities of the National Football League.

“KFC is not affiliated with the NFL in any fashion, so this is a textbook case of ambush marketing 101,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “There are many different companies that try to draft off the excitement of the Super Bowl that have no right to any of the activities going on.”

The horror. The NFL went on to say that any player caught incorporating the chicken dance into his endzone celebration could face fines.

“We’re not going to play the role of Simon Cowell and critique dances,” McCarthy said. “But if a player acted in a way that was a reflection of a corporate message, then we’d have to take a look at it.”

Now, now, Mr. McCarthy. Don’t try to “draft off the excitement” of American Idol. We’re on to you.

KFC says they have a charitable plan for the money even if no player or half-time performer does the dance.

@forever_knight:
The NFL is not bluffing. Last year at media day, Bears LB Brian Urlacher wore a Vitaminwater baseball cap. Urlacher is an endorser of the drink but it is not an official drink sponsor of the NFL. 1 month later, the NFL gave Urlacher a $100,000 fine for wearing a “non-approved sponsor piece of paraphanalia.”

Don’t forget this is also the league that wouldn’t let coaches dress in suits unless they were specifically designed by Reebok, and lets Patriots head coach Bill Belichick dress like a teenager on drugs during the game and it’s ok because it’s all offical licensed clothing.

Exactly, the NFL loves to shit all over anyone else doing anything that is related to the superbowl where they dont get their cut.

Check out one part of the copyright code that specifies games cant be shown on TVs larger than 55″ that aren’t normally showing sports. In Las Vegas, a few years ago the Palms hotel casino tried to show the SB on their IMAX screen – the NFL threatened to sue for millions and they had to cancel it. Also you cant charge attendance to superbowl parties, etc, etc.

I actually think the NFL would be shouted down by the public for penalizing something done for charity. And honestly, whimpering about marketing from people who sell ads on the hash marks = extra-ludicrous.

So if a player is endorsed by Nike, and he makes a touchdown and points to his shoes and says “Just do it!” will the NFL fine him? Isn’t the reason a sponser pays a player is to get the player to endorse the product?

Honestly, I love football, but I think the worst thing about football is the NFL. The NFL is the reason why many cableco’s can’t carry the NFL network; they want way too much damn money for it!

This one quote from McCarthy really bothers me.. “There are many different companies that try to draft off the excitement of the Super Bowl that have no right to any of the activities going on.”

He forgot to add: Unless the NFL sees some of it. This may be common knowledge, but I’m guessing all of the commercials that are played during the Super Bowl are paid in part to the NFL as well? That’s a pretty big example of “companies trying to draft off the excitement of the Super Bowl”.

So, does the Colonel get off scott-free here? Make a press release, give a 250,000 to charity? Hmmmm, if I’m a marketer over at Fun Brands or whatever the hell it’s called, I just figured out how to get advertised during the Stupor Bowl by paying about 10% of the going rate… Oh, nevermind, it’s OK, since it’s going to CHARITY. Honestly, using charity to cover that up offends me more than what the NFL is doing. Why don’t they advertise that instead of wasting millions on some overproduced ad, and then on the airtime they’re going to give that cash to Charity. Then it counts as actual, real live, we-give-a-shit-about-people who-aren’t-buying-Burrito-Supremes charity.

Once again NFL stands for the No-Fun-League.
Hey as much as I dislike KFC’s product, I may just get
a few wings because I applaud their effort. I think Chiquita should offer the same if a Quarterback replaces that green sticker on the back of their helmet with one of their banana stickers.
Which begs another question. If the QB is the only guy with radio contact to the coaching staff why do they need the green sticker to say he’s the guy with radio contact to the coaches? It’s an FCC thing, isn’t it.

Wouldn’t the fine be waaaayyy cheaper than paying for advertising? And that fine is pocket change for some of the players, too. Tax write-offs, doing it for charity, flipping-the-bird to the greedy NFL — I’m not seeing the downside here.

the key here is money towards charity. the NFL knows that they will look horrible if they fine a player for basically contributing $250k to a charity. DESPITE KFC’s end run around expensive advertising.

Reminder, everyone please quit using the term ‘Super Bowl’ in your posts. They’ll sue you for that too. Pizza places used to run ads offering specials on Super Bowl Sunday and the NFL would send cease and desist letters. Last year I remember a story about a cease and desist letter to a church that was having a viewing party for it’s members.

As far as being skilled shakdown artists, The NFL puts the mob to shame.

Their long-term goal is bypassing the networks/stations that helped them get so big time and become both producer and distributor.

NFL network is just intermediate step until next generation of broadband tv distribution comes together. If you think you’re getting robbed now by Comcast, TW, etc. now, just wait until the league gets that monopoly on the distribution end, too.

What about the “You’ve just wont he Superbowl, what are you gonna do next?” “I’m going to Disneyworld!” of the past? Personally I couldn’t care less, and being a fan of the free market, if a player could make some extra money by doing something in-game that doesn’t affect the outcome or break the rules, why not?

As much as I agree with the charitable desires of KFC, the NFL is right: it is THEIR property that is being used in an unauthorized manner. The NFL has built its Super Bowl brand into a juggernaut over the last 30 years and another company is trying to capitalize on it, albeit for a positive purpose.

I’d like to see how the NFL would handle that negative feedback. [Player’s name here] does the chicken dance so KFC will donate $260K to [worthy charity name here]; gets fined [outrageous figure] by NFL fatcats.

Lol…pretty funny. Players can smoke crack, beat hookers, take bribes and whatever else they feel like doing off-field, but ooooh..don’t let them catch you doing the “chicken dance” after a touchdown or there will be hell to pay!